Daily Archives: April 16, 2012

Houston-based Cheniere Energy on Monday cleared the final major hurdle to exporting natural gas when federal regulators approved the firm’s plan to build a plant in southwest Louisiana for liquefying the fuel.

The decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission puts Cheniere on track to convert its existing Sabine Pass terminal for receiving liquefied natural gas by 2015 — a timeline that would make it the first LNG export facility in the lower 48 states. One operates now in Alaska.

The company aims to export up to 3.5 million tons per year from the facility in Lake Charles, La. Cheniere plans to build the liquefaction plant in two stages, adding 191 acres to the existing terminal’s space. The facility would still be able to receive liquefied natural gas from tankers.

“Obtaining approval from the FERC is one more milestone for our liquefaction project,” said Cheniere CEO Charif Souki. “We will now finalize the financing arrangements in order to commence construction.”

About half a dozen other companies, including Texas-based Freeport LNG, also are pursuing exports to take advantage of the glut of natural gas produced in the U.S. using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques that free hydrocarbons from dense shale rock formations.

Exports would allow natural gas producers and processors to capitalize on higher prices globally compared to the United States. In the U.S. Monday, natural gas futures settled just over $2 per million British thermal units after hitting 10-year lows last week.

In Cheniere’s case, the strategy is a bid to put its receiving terminal to work. The Sabine Pass terminal went online in 2009, just as U.S. natural gas production surged and killed the need for LNG imports.

When natural gas is cooled to 256 degrees below zero it becomes a liquid that tanker ships can transport. At its destination it is converted back into gas. Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal is outfitted with regassification and storage equipment now.

In approving Cheniere’s liquefaction plant plans, FERC also could also give a boost to U.S. producers with big natural gas portfolios.

But a rise in natural gas prices would increase consumers’ monthly bills and also would be bad news for chemical manufacturers that use natural gas as a building block to create other products.

Congressional Democrats have proposed legislation that would ban new LNG exports. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who is pushing a ban, said the expert terminals would mean sending U.S. natural gas to China and Europe 00 and “exporting our manufacturing jobs abroad along with the fuel.”

“America should exploit her competitive advantage with lower natural gas prices to create jobs in the United States, not export natural gas to create more profits for oil and gas companies,” Markey said.

And environmentalists have asked top Obama administration officials to require a broader review of the consequences of the surge in natural gas drilling that probably would result from selling the fuel overseas.

Critics fear hydraulic fracturing can contaminate water supplies and cause localized earthquakes. Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement Monday that exports would increase production and hydraulic fracturing, “making a dirty fuel more dangerous and putting more American families in at risk.”

The Obama administration wants Americans to realize what a good job it and the Bush administration did saving the economy from a second Great Depression. But they’d prefer not to make this case directly. They want journalists to do it for them.

On Friday, the Treasury Department convened one of its semi-regular, invitation-only background press briefings for journalists. Senior Treasury officials spoke to us, answered our questions, and showed us a “deck,” which is annoying industry jargon for a PowerPoint presentation. “I just know this is going to be a fucking waste of time—another dog-and-pony show,” another journalist told me on our way into the meeting. The central message of the dog-and-pony show was that the US response to the 2008 financial collapse was pretty effective, especially when compared to how other countries reacted to different crises. The PowerPoint presentation used terms like “bank investment programs,” but what the Treasury gang was talking about was the highly unpopular financial bailouts (as opposed to the auto bailouts, which the Obama team views as a political winner).

The Treasury officials said many true things. It’s certainly possible that if the government hadn’t acted quickly, the 2008 financial crisis could have been as disastrous as the Great Depression. Many of the bailouts—or “rescues,” as Treasury calls them—have resulted in net gains for the taxpayers. (The current value of the government’s shares in AIG, for example, exceed the amount of money it has yet to recover from that bailout.) The Treasury is right that countries confront major economic crises frequently and that the United States will probably face one again. And it’s legitimate for the Obama administration to worry that its successors will look at the interventions made in the markets in 2008 and fear that such action is not worth the immense political costs. Consequently, they discern the need to get good press for these bailouts.

The journalists in the room justifiably focused their questions on things that the Obama administration and the Treasury Department have not done well enough: helping struggling homeowners, lowering unemployment, and moving towards a financial order where these sorts of crises are no longer inevitable. The Treasury folks mostly wanted to talk about how successful the bailouts were. But they made that argument in a no-direct-quotes, no-television, you-can’t-even-say-our-names briefing for 20 or so journalists on a Friday afternoon. In other words, in a manner that would not associate them too closely with this argument. They did it in this fashion because they want to influence our future reporting (a fair-enough desire). But they don’t want to take on the political challenge of directly defending their massively unpopular actions in the public eye.

Senior Treasury officials clearly believe that the financial sector bailouts were a brave choice that worked out as well as anyone could have hoped, and they said as much on Friday. I’m bound by the agreement not to quote any of them directly.

But when asked about the bank bailouts in public, Obama and top administration officials usually mention that the Bush administration launched the bailouts, talk about them as something America “had” to do, and change the subject as quickly as possible. One example is Obama’s 2010 State of the Union address. “If there’s one thing that has unified Democrats and Republicans, and everybody in between, it’s that we all hated the bank bailout,” Obama said. “I hated it. I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal.” He went on to describe the bailout as a “necessary” step taken by “the last administration,” arguing that “if we had allowed the meltdown of the financial system, unemployment might be double what it is today,” with more businesses closed and more homes lost.

In that speech, the bailout was the equivalent of cutting off your hand when it’s caught under a bolder and you’re dying of thirst: a terrible thing to which there was no alternative. That’s a bit at odds with how senior Treasury officials spoke about the bailouts on Friday: a wise choice that worked out better than anyone could have anticipated, and a program that makes the administration proud. That appraisal is not on the record.

Euro Area Seeks Bigger IMF War Chest on Spanish Concerns … European officials travel to Washington this week seeking a bigger global war chest to combat the debt crisis as Spain’s government battles to quell renewed market turmoil over its finances. Three weeks after European leaders unveiled emergency euro- area funding exceeding the symbolic $1 trillion mark, concerns about Spain’s position have ratcheted the nation’s borrowing costs to the highest levels this year. Crisis-fighting resources will dominate talks at the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting in Washington from April 20-22. – Bloomberg

Dominant Social Theme: Austerity would work if Europe would just cooperate.

Free-Market Analysis: Almost unnoticed, the world’s leaders now speak in terms of trillions rather than billions (or millions) as they used to, and the IMF and central banks are leaders in this trend (see above excerpt).

The goal of the elites running these facilities is world government and the European Union is a stepping-stone to this consolidation. Austerity, the program that is supposedly stabilizing European finances, is actually an elite dominant theme that does the opposite of its stated intent.

As part of this globalist thrust, the power elite seeks to empower certain international facilities with additional funding and authority. Out of chaos … order, as the article excerpted above once again illustrates:

Bowing to international pressure to do more while stopping short of a bolder proposal, European governments agreed last month that 500 billion euros ($654 billion) in fresh money would be placed aside 300 billion euros already committed to create an 800 billion-euro defense against contagion.

By also offering to give the IMF 150 billion euros, “European governments have done their part,” ECB Executive Board Member Joerg Asmussen said April 13. “I would now expect our non-European friends and partners to contribute their part to IMF resources.”

This kind of problem/solution formula is easy to understand for anyone who wants to look. The elites pursue their goals via dominant social themes, fear-based promotions that frighten people into giving up power and wealth to globalist facilities. In this case the mechanism is the “sovereign debt crisis” and the solution is to puff up the IMF with more resources.

The longer the so-called sovereign debt crisis goes on, the more the globalists utilize it to expand the power of their chosen institutions. We wrote about this phenomenon just the other day in an article entitled, “Debt Crisis Plotted to Deliver the Euro to the IMF?” Here’s how we explained the genesis:

One has to keep in mind the artificiality of the current economic construct. The economy of the world is run via monopoly fiat/paper money printed by central banks. It is this system that has seemingly crashed half of the world’s economy and is well on the way to delivering China into the same situation …

The EU crisis itself, as we have often pointed out, started when certain poorer countries were given large amounts of money by Brussels to “equalize” the economy. These funds were supposed to allow the bureaucracies to address native imbalances and create fiscal health.

Of course, this money was nothing but a kind of bribe. The elites of the given nation pocketed the funds and then made sure their countries entered the EU. After this occurred, further lending took place via the elite’s top, European commercial banks.

After the 2008 crash, it became clear that the EU’s PIGS couldn’t repay the loans. This was likely the plan all along. After this realization set in, the power elite that orchestrates this sort of thing ensured that the solution to this manipulated dilemma was “austerity.”

The idea is evidently and obviously to make people so miserable that they will eventually welcome world government and world money. The power elite orchestrating this has been using what we call directed history for at least a century and probably closer to three – within the context of the modern globalist conspiracy.

The article we are analyzing today from Bloomberg suggests an expanded IMF based on the Euro crisis. But the IMF is also promoting a US$500 billion expansion via developing countries.

The justification is that the European crisis might spill over into other continents and nations. The IMF has to be prepared for via a half billion-dollar transfer from the very countries it claims to be protecting. Reuters reports the following:

In January, the IMF said it would need $600 billion in new resources to help “innocent bystanders” who might be affected by economic and financial spillovers from Europe … On Friday, officials from the Group of 20 nations told Reuters the world’s major economies were likely to agree to provide the IMF with somewhere between $400 billion and $500 billion.

A G20 official said the fundraising effort would likely raise about $50 billion from Japan and a similar amount from China and Saudi Arabia, in addition to the $250-300 billion already committed by EU countries. Smaller amounts will likely come from countries such as Russia, Mexico and Brazil.

Thus it is that the IMF expands. It is receiving at least US$150 billion from Europe and hundreds of billions from mostly “developing” countries. It is interesting that the Reuters article and the Bloomberg article don’t quite match up on the European contributions. What’s a few hundred billion among friends?

In fact, nobody REALLY knows how much money is flowing at the top, or where it is headed. The point of the reports is promotional and has little to do with accuracy. The idea is to throw vast sums around as to imbue government officials with godlike powers.

Often, we discover the announcements made about funds prove not to be true. The European sovereign debt crisis was supposed to have been solved years ago, when the first announcements were made that funds had been delegated to “fix” the problem by leading European sponsors.

In fact, we have come to realize this crisis – like other crises around the world – are often manufactured ones. This is no doubt why they often last so long. The longer the crisis lasts, the more possibilities for a transformative effect.

In this case it seems obvious to us that the intent is to make citizens of the West so miserable (via “austerity”) that they will welcome virtually any change, even globalism, that promises to make their lives better.

Seen through this admittedly cynical lens, the 20th century with all its “isms” and arguments for expanding government via socialism, etc., was the first part of a promotion that is now nearing its latter stages. Having successfully made people dependent on government, the powers-that-be are now removing those props in order to further their internationalist aims.

No doubt global governance will be sold the same way as were the initial governmental solutions of the 20th century – as a panacea that will somehow reduce the world’s afflictions and rectify the wrongs of the “market.”

Conclusion: We are not yet sure the IMF is destined to become the world’s central bank – complete with an SDR global currency – but the IMF is continually showing up at the center of things as world economic chaos blossoms. More that the Bank for International Settlements or even the World Bank, it appears to be the Chosen One.

Drilling of the first well in the long-awaited exploration of Cuba‘s offshore oilfields has gone slower than expected, but should be completed by mid-May, according to reports.

Reuters quoted sources close to the project as saying drillers had encountered harder rock beneath the sea bed than expected, which combined with other minor problems, had slowed progress.

When drilling began on 1 February Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF said drilling of the deep-water well was anticipated to take about 60 days to complete.

A Repsol spokesman could not confirm on Friday the projected mid-May completion date, when contacted by Reuters.

This well, which is in 1706 metres of water off the communist-run island’s north-west coast, is the first of five currently planned, Cuban officials say.

Cuba has said it could have 20 billion barrels in its offshore fields. It needs the oil to end its dependence on Venezuela, which ships it 114,000 barrels a day.

Cancer-stricken Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is Cuba’s top ally, but island leaders worry that the oil flow could stop if he dies or loses his bid for re-election later this year, Reuters reported.

The US Geological Survey estimated Cuba may have 5 billion barrels of oil and 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas offshore, but its study covered only part of the Cuban zone.

Reuters cited various unnamed sources as saying Repsol had been encouraged by its findings thus far, but the company has said results will not be known until the well is finished and studies are conducted.

Oil experts say it will take three years or more to bring the Cuban oil on line, if enough is found to justify production, according to Reuters.

After Repsol completes its well, it will hand the Scarabeo 9 drilling rig over to Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas and its Russian partner Gazprom Neft for a second well.

Then it will go back to Repsol, which has a consortium with Norway’s Statoil and ONGC Videsh, a unit of India’s ONGC, for another well, Reuters reported.

The massive Chinese-built rig, which is more than 32 kilometres offshore but visible from Havana, is being leased from owner Saipem, a unit of Italian oil company Eni.

Due to the longstanding US trade embargo against Cuba, no American oil companies are involved in the project.

Repsol drilled a well in Cuban waters in 2004 and found oil, but said it was not commercially viable. Technological limitations imposed by the embargo made it difficult to find another rig for work in Cuba, industry sources have said.

The project has raised environmental concerns in the US, particularly in Florida, which is 145 kilometres north of Cuba and fears its shores could be damaged if there is an accident similar to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

Cheniere Energy Partners said today that it has engaged eight financial institutions to act as Joint Lead Arrangers to assist in the structuring and arranging of up to $4 billion of debt facilities.

The proceeds will be used to pay for costs of development and construction of the liquefaction project at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal, to fund the acquisition of the Creole Trail Pipeline from Cheniere Energy, and for general business purposes. As previously disclosed, estimated capital costs before financing for the first two trains of the liquefaction project of $4.5 billion to $5.0 billion are expected to be funded from a combination of debt and equity financings.

“Obtaining financing is one of the last steps to complete before proceeding with the construction of the first two liquefaction trains being developed at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal,” said Charif Souki, Chairman and CEO. “We have engaged an experienced group of financial institutions as our core banking group and look forward to completing the financing for the project in due course.”

The Secretary of State for the UK's Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy department issues his backing for the UK's onshore shale gas industry and set out a series of actions to support the sector.

Brazilian oil company Petrobras is looking to farm-out parts of its ownership in four blocks in located in the Deepwater Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, across an exploration area of 44,370 square kilometers . ...

ADES International, a provider of offshore and onshore oil and gas drilling and production services, has secured a new loan from a Saudi bank to finance the acquisition of three jack-ups from Nabors. ...

Australian LNG player Woodside is looking to up the pace on the development of the Scarborough gas field off the country's northwestern coast. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Harvey Gulf International Marine, the New Orleans-based LNG-fueled PSV owner and LNG bunkering pioneer, saw its final plan of reorganization approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

MAN Diesel & Turbo has been selected to provide a complete propulsion package and fuel-gas system for the world’s first fishing vessel with LNG propulsion. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have called for public comments on the Jordan Cove Energy project proposed for the North Spit of Coos Bay near... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Fluxys-operated Zeebrugge liquefied natural gas terminal is scheduled to host five LNG carriers over the next 15 days. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Oslo-based Awilco LNG, the owner of two 156,000-cbm LNG carriers, reported a profit of $1 million in the first quarter of this year as compared to a loss of $31.8 million in the comparable period... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Russian giant Gazprom and its Japanese partner Mitsui discussed the progress of its small- and mid-scale LNG cooperation. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

You are probably aware of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will come into effect on May 25th. In a nutshell, it means your personal data will be better protected, hence... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

You are probably aware of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will come into effect on May 25, 2018. In a nutshell it means your personal data will be better protected, hence... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Nautilus Minerals has completed the first trial of its newly-developed autonomous sediment sampler. The insect-inspired creation is dubbed the “Nautilus Jumping Spider” and resembling its animal... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Impact Subsea has appointed Craig Thorburn as operations manager, who will be responsible for product production and customer support. Craig will be based at the Impact Subsea headquarters in... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Unmanned Survey Solutions’ new Accession Class unmanned surface vessels (USVs) have been given the green light following the funding from Marine-i Marine Challenge Fund, supported by the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Nord Stream 2, the developer of the twin pipeline to supply Russian natural gas to the EU market, released 90,000 young Atlantic salmon as compensation for potential temporary damage to fisheries... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Gulf of Mexico-focused vessel operator Harvey Gulf International Marine has been granted approval for its ﬁnal Plan of Reorganization by the United States Bankruptcy Court. The approval comes just 77... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has appointed Terry Makewell to the position of chief technology officer. According to UKHO, this appointment will support it in delivering its vision of becoming... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Aquaterra Energy has made two senior management promotions to spearhead its continued growth strategy. George Morrison becomes group CEO of parent company Aquaterra Energy Group, while James Larnder... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Minesto has completed the installation of the micro grid system (MGS) buoy that will be used for the company’s first tidal energy installation in Holyhead Deep, Wales. Moored to the seabed using... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tymor Marine has appointed Matthew Heyman as business development manager of the company. Matthew has over twenty years maritime industry experience with companies including Wilhelmsen, Maersk and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Statoil’s active leases in the Gulf of Mexico

Scientists now think there could be microscopic life floating in the clouds of Venus. Their theory is surprising, considering how inhospitable the surface of Venus is. But in the clouds, the possibility of life is very real. Following is a transcript of the video. Despite decades of searching distant planets and stars for alien life we’re still empty-handed. […]

Childbirth is an amazing process. But unless you've witnessed or experienced it, you might not realize just how powerful the moment can be. That's why there are birth photos, which show people what the process is like — and prove that there is no one way for a woman to give birth. To celebrate birth and the photographers that capture it, the Intern […]

A big new European privacy regulation called GDPR goes into effect on May 25. But, because the internet crosses borders, many of their protections apply to people around the world, including Americans. GDPR says internet companies need to ask their customers for permission to use their data in a clear and understandable way. That's why you're gett […]

The median US home value rose 8.7% year-over-year in April to $215,600, the fastest increase since 2006, according to Zillow data. San Jose, Las Vegas, and Seattle were the cities that saw the biggest increase over the period. Homes in the US haven't been this valuable since before the financial crisis. That's according to new data from Zillow, whi […]

Gifts made to commemorate the summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un are now being sold for a discount at the White House gift shop. Trump cancelled the meeting this morning. The gifts were made to complement a coin made by the White House that went viral earlier this week. People started joking about it as soon as the cancellatio […]

Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the company's board is no longer fighting for control after he proposed a new structure last October. His proposals curtailed former CEO Travis Kalanick's voting power. He said fixing Uber's governance was his first job as CEO, and that he then moved onto company culture and strategy. Khosrowshahi co […]

AirlineRatings.com recently surveyed its readers to find out which types of passengers people find most annoying on a plane. Of the more than 5,300 people who responded to the survey, 78% found people who smell bad to be the worst passengers to be around. Other types of passengers to make the top 10 include out of control kids and people who bring too many c […]

Eight women accused Morgan Freeman of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior in a CNN report published Thursday. The accusers included CNN reporter Chloe Melas, the coauthor of CNN's report, who alleged that Freeman subjected her to inappropriate comments about her appearance at a press junket. Altogether, CNN spoke to 16 people who "describe […]

President Donald Trump's cancellation of the planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly caught South Korea's president by surprise, and he's called an emergency meeting at midnight, local time. It looks like Trump didn't tell anyone before he decided to pull out of the summit. President Donald Trump's cancellatio […]

Mary Beth Buchanan, a former federal prosecutor appointed by President George W. Bush, has been hired by crypto exchange Kraken, according to people familiar with the matter. The regulatory environment has been murky for companies like Kraken given the nascent nature of the crypto market. Notably, the US has reportedly opened a criminal probe into market m […]

Authored by Kevin Muir via The Macro Tourist blog, It’s now cool to be bearish bonds. A couple of years ago you were labeled a pariah for even suggesting inflation might pick up. The few of us that argued locking in 10-year money at 1.4% wasn’t a good risk reward supposedly didn’t understand the overwhelming three Ds - debt, demographics and deflation. Yeah, […]

Two days ago, when looking at the ongoing turmoil gripping the Italian market, where the imminent formation of a populist, Euroskeptic government with a penchant for spending and threatening to impose a "parallel currency", the "Mini-BoT" has sent Italian yields soaring to the highest level in years, we noted something more troubling not […]

Authored by Amity blog via Safehaven.com, In early November, while Bitcoin enthusiasts and investors were waiting for a long-anticipated update to the software that supports the famous digital currency, a mass email from the group behind the project informed everyone that they were canceling the update. For months, Segwit2x, as the update was called, was at […]

Having been a dollar bull for several months, Bloomberg's Mark Cudmore now thinks it's about time for the long-term dollar downtrend to resume. All the key drivers of strength have run their course and it's more likely that the marginal developments from here will weigh on the dollar... Via Bloomberg, After rising more than 4% in the last five […]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) fired off a letter to the Department of Justice Wednesday demanding unredacted versions of text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and former bureau attorney Lisa Page, including one exchange which took place after Strzok had returned from London as part of the recently launched "Operation C […]

Update: Trump said that while he hopes that talks will lead to a favorable outcome, the US military is remains ready to act if necessary. The comments represent a return to the menacing Trump rhetoric of last year. Trump added that the talks could still take place as originally planned. *TRUMP SAYS CANCELLATION OF KIM SUMMIT BASED ON KIM'S STATEMENTS *T […]

Authored by Tho Bishop via The Mises Institute, Nicolás Maduro may have received more votes in Venezuela’s recent presidential election, but the record-low voter turnout is widely seen as its own form of protest against his increasingly oppressive socialist regime. So as long as Maduro’s government controls the voting process, his opponents will continue to […]

In the second round of sanctions announced this week, the Treasury Department on Thursday said it would impose sanctions on several Iranian and Turkish companies, as well as aircraft connected to those companies, in a move that targets four Iranian airlines. The sanctions were levied against nine individuals and entities for "procuring export-controlled […]

Having collapsed this morning following a profit warning (and mass layoffs) this morning, we suspect the following chart will start to send Deutsche Bank counterparties scrambling for protection... With a market cap of just over $21 billion now, Deutsche Bank - the once most systemically-dangerous bank in the world, and German darling - is now smaller than.. […]

One month ago we reported how, three years after a historic "fat finger" wire transfer in which Deutsche Bank mistakenly sent $6 billion to a (briefly) lucky hedge fund, a routine payment at the biggest German bank "went awry" (or as Bloomberg said at the time, "was flubbed") when the bank "mistakenly" sent 28 billion […]